Class Schedule

17 Jan (Tu): Introduction: Playful Technologies

The class syllabus is this Web site. Please carefully read the whole thing.

PART I: Theories of Play

19 Jan (Th): Play in Animals

Read: Read S-S Ch. 2, Rhetorics of Animal Progress.
OPTIONAL: Read Lorenz chapter On Feline Play, from the Online Course Reader.

24 Jan (Tu): Play as Development

Read S-S Ch. 3, Rhetorics of Child Play.
OPTIONAL: Read Miller Ends, Means, and Galumphing from the Online Course Reader.

26 Jan (Th): Play as Fate/Chance

Read S-S Ch. 4, Rhetorics of Fate
Please bring some object that you play with to class today.
Please Register for a blog account and set your password by class time today.

31 Jan (Tu): Play as Power

Read S-S Ch. 6, Rhetorics of Identity
OPTIONAL: Read Veblen Ch. 1 of The theory of the leisure class from the Online Course Reader.
Please post a test message on your blog before class today.

2 Feb (Th): Play as Identity

Read S-S Ch. 8, Rhetorics of the Imaginary.
First blog post due.
First reading diary check-in. Bring your reading diary to class.

7 Feb (Tu): Play as Imagination; Fieldwork

Read S-S Ch. 10, Rhetorics of Self.
OPTIONAL: Read Hearn Ch. 1 of A Critical Theory of Play from the Online Course Reader.

9 Feb (Th): Play as Imagination; Fieldwork

Read S-S Ch. 11, Rhetorics of Frivolity.
Read Suits chapter from S-Z, Construction of a Definition.
Second blog post due.

14 Feb (Tu): Play as Self-Fulfillment; Nonsense

Read Huizinga chapter from S-Z, Nature and Significance of Play as a Cultural Phenomenon.
OPTIONAL: Read Geertz chapter Deep Play, from the Online Course Reader.

16 Feb (Th): The Classification of Games

Read Caillois chapter from S-Z,
Fieldwork and third blog post due.

PART II: Designs, Settings & Consequences

21 Feb (Tu): Why do games matter now?

Read Hughes chapter from S-Z, Why are Rooie Rules Nice?
Read Chick chapter from S-Z, Shoot Club: The Doom 3 Review.

23 Feb (Th): What is simulation? What is it for? How does it work? (simulation, representation)

Read Salen & Zimmerman, "Games as the Play of Simulation" from the Online Class Reader.
Fourth blog post due.

28 Feb (Tu): Do players have rights? Do games need governance? (griefing, racism, sociopaths online)

Read always_black chapter from S-Z, "Bow, Nigger."
Read Koster chapter from S-Z, Declaring the Rights of Players.
Read Dibbell, A Rape in Cyberspace from the Online Class Reader.
OPTIONAL: Read Sandvig article The Internet at Play from the online course reader.
Second reading diary check-in. Bring your reading diary to class.

1 Mar (Th): SPECIAL EVENT: Project Pitch Day

ROOM CHANGE: Class will be held in B02 CSL (the auditorium in the basement)
Project pitch due. See the deadlines and instructions in the pitch handout.

6 Mar (Tu): What are 'girl games' vs. 'boy games'? (gender)

Read the first Jenkins chapter from S-Z (starting on p. 330), Video Games as Gendered Play Spaces.
OPTIONAL: Read Stephenson Ch. 4 Play Theory from the online course reader.

8 Mar (Th): How can we analyze specific games? (critique)

Read Mochan chapter from S-Z, How to be a Cheap Ass.
Read Rouse III chapter from S-Z, Game Analysis: Centipede.
Sixth blog post due.

13 Mar (Tu): Adolescence and Play (childhood and socialization)

Read Sniderman chapter from S-Z, Unwritten Rules.
Read Crowe & Bradford article Hanging Out in Runescape from the online course reader.
OPTIONAL: Read Malone article Toward a Theory of Intrinsically Motivating Instruction from the online course reader.

15 Mar (Th): CLASS CANCELLED

Read Church chapter from S-Z, Formal Abstract Design Tools.
Read Poundstone from S-Z, Game Theory.

20 Mar (Tu): Spring Vacation (NO CLASS)

22 Mar (Th): Spring Vacation (NO CLASS)

27 Mar (Tu): What are players after? (motivation, community)

Read Bartle chapter from S-Z, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades: Players Who Suit MUDs.
OPTIONAL: Read Stephenson Ch. 15 Play Theory of Mass Communication Broadly Considered from the online course reader.

29 Mar (Th): How can play have a story? (narrative)

Read Mateas & Stern chapters from S-Z, Interaction and Narrative.
Seventh blog post due SATURDAY 3/31!

3 Apr (Tu): How does the industry work? (design process)

Read DeKoven chapter from S-Z, Changing the Game.
Read Garfield chapter from S-Z, The Design of Magic: The Gathering.
Read Birdwell chapter from S-Z, The Cabal: Valve's Design Process for Creating Half-Life.
OPTIONAL: Read the section of the Gadamer chapter Play as the Clue to Ontological Explanation in the online course reader.

5 Apr (Th): What kinds of gameplay conventions are there? How do players know what to do? (interaction design, interface design)

Read Bjork & Holopainen chapter from S-Z, Games and Design Patterns.
Read LeBlanc chapter from S-Z, Tools for Creating Dramatic Game Dynamics.
Eighth Blog post due.

10 Apr (Tu):SURPRISE SPECIAL EVENT UNVEILED: Volition Fieldtrip.

ROOM CHANGE: Meet at Volition lobby, 1 Main St., Champaign at 11:15 a.m.

12 Apr (Th): How can rules be designed? (rules)

Read Costikyan chapter from S-Z, I Have No Words and I Must Design.
Read Farmer & Morningstar chapter from S-Z, The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat.
Ninth blog post due.

17 Apr (Tu): How does law control play (I)? (intellectual property)

ROOM CHANGE: Class will meet in 291 Undergraduate Library (UGL)
Read Beard article Clones, Bones, and Twilight Zones Part I and II only from the Online Course Reader.
OPTIONAL: Read Lenoir article All But War is Simulation, from the Online Course Reader.

19 Apr (Th): How does law control play (II)? (content rating)

Project V. 1 due.
You must e-mail the instructor (csandvig@illinois.edu) a message with the subject line "Project URL" including a working URL to your V. 1 project before the start of class today (11:00 a.m.). If you do not send this email we will assume your project is on Segue. If the URL doesn't work (check for typos!) or we can't find your project (e.g., there's no URL e-mail and it isn't on Segue) this means you didn't submit a project.

PART III: Our Contribution

24 Apr (Tu): In-class presentations.

 
Kira Varava
David Roache
Peter Steadman
Tia France
Hollie Lewandowski
Casey Utz
Daniel Tromotola
Brian Guerrero
Stephen Hull
Shaun Peace
Timothy Lee

26 Apr (Th): In-class presentations.

 
Sarunas Daugirdas
Kevin Today
Ashley Walsh
Nicole Hendry
Nicholas Bethune
Andrew Lambert
Krysta Tsan
Jackyl Ramsey
Kiani Love
Deangelo Ashford
Ashante Williams

1 May (Tu): In-class presentations.

 
Hugh Sato
Andrew Harris
Gabrielle Borries
Aaron Holmes
Kristen Blankenship
Regina Hudson
David Soderberg
Michael Buchanan
Stephen Nosek
Enrique Carmona Cort

7 May (Mo): PROJECT V. 2 DUE by 1:30 p.m. (counts as FINAL EXAM)

Third Reading Diary check-in.
Update the Web site URL that you previously sent with V. 2 of your final project by 1:30 p.m. Be sure to test to ensure that your Web site is reachable.

Deposit your reading diary and any fieldwork consent forms in the Coordinated Science Laboratory Mail Room, room 204 CSL mailbox for "A. Rickman." or (if they are digital) e-mail them to arickman@illinois.edu.

Any remaining presentation feedback forms left in class and/or your graded reading diaries can be picked up by arranging this via email with Aimee.